Frozen River. That says it all for me. This was a lovely, lovely film! More tears. I am starting to lose my mind over how fantastic these movies are! Once again we were treated to the presence of the writer/director (Courtney Hunt - first time filmmaker), one of the stars (Misty Upham) and Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures Classic, that bought the film. …
Ebertfest: Day 3, part one
Oy!! This festival is starting to exhaust me! That was my thought this morning when I rolled outta bed at 9:30A.M. to get some books autographed by Roger and to attend a forum about film. That exhaustion turned into exhilaration by the time I reached the theater. I just saw Begging Naked, a documentary by Karen Gehres. This film was extraordinary. It ripped my heart out and enlightened me at the same time. …
Ebertfest Day 2: Trouble the Water
Well, it did it to me again... I saw Trouble the Water and it made cry - again. The film makers (Carl Deal, Tia Lessin) and subjects (Kim & Scott Roberts) were on hand to introduce the film and afterwards for a Q & A (Richard Roeper was the mediator.) I had to raise my hand to comment. Back in October I had emailed my review to the Trouble the Water's Myspace profile and Director Carl Deal wrote me back. And so when I made my comment I mentioned that I had sent an email to Myspace, …
Ebertfest Day 2
I am back at the hotel for a quick break between screenings. I just saw : My Winnipeg., a wonderfully cheeky & unique film film directed by Guy Maddin, who I met, and Ramin Bahrani's Chop Shop - Fabulous! I just saw Bahrani's film Goodbye Solo a few weeks ago. But tonight we are screening Trouble the Water. I fell in love with this great film when I saw it last year. The directors will be there as well as the subjects of the doc: Kim & Scott Roberts. Kim will be rapping after the …
Ebertfest – Day One
There are some basic survivor strategies that one must know when one comes to Ebertfest. I attended Ebertfest 2005 with my BFF Avis who was a big editor at the Chicago Sun Times and friend of Roger, so we had VIP-this and Press-that. But being a lone Cougar I had only the upgrade of Festival Pass which gives me early access to seating (general seating) before the single ticket holders. However, one must arrive very early to get the best seat cause there seemed to have been several hundred …